M-W's Trapani V845 girls' basketball coach of year

After leading her Monroe-Woodbury girls' basketball team to a Section 9 title for the first time since 1989, Linda Trapani said there were many people she'd like to thank.

She wanted to recognize her assistant of the last 12 years, Lois-Ann Hayes. She wished to credit Monroe-Woodbury athletic director Ron Montalto and the school's girls' basketball coaches at the lower levels: Leslie Ahlborn, Mike Connolly, Dan Steiler and volunteer assistant Pablo Quinones.

All of those people – and, of course, the Monroe-Woodbury players – played some role, large or small, in a dream 20-2 season for the Crusaders.

Trapani, Varsity845's Coach of the Year, wouldn't admit it, but she did, too.In her 24th year at the end of the Crusaders' bench, Trapani proved she wasn't afraid to change. She spends each offseason watching instructional videos and traveling to coaching conferences, looking for new ideas.

She was even willing to make practice fun, at least once a week.

“I think this year they really worked on making it fun for everyone,” said senior guard Kerrie Walsh. “For our practices, we had 'Fun Friday.' They made it really competitive for all of us.”

On Fridays, the Crusaders would often get a visitor in the form of a physical education teacher from Monroe-Woodbury, who would lead the team in a new workout or yoga.

Trapani also brought in a few experts on the mental side of the game, inspired in part by the crushing end to the Crusaders' 2011-12 season.

Monroe-Woodbury was the No. 1 seed in the 2012 Section 9 Class AA tournament, but the Crusaders fell at home to underdog Valley Central in the semifinal round.

“I'm not taking anything away from Valley Central, they were prepared to play, ready to play that game,” Trapani said. “Psychologically, I think we made it bigger than it needed to be. This offseason, we worked on so much more of the mental part of it. I just thought we handled our sectional play much more mature. I thought we grew up. I brought in someone to work on relaxation and visualization techniques with them. That was important.”

There was plenty of strategy and Xs and Os as well, but the Crusaders had a simple plan on offense: run. Monroe-Woodbury averaged 55.3 points per game, often overwhelming their opponents with one fast break opportunity after another.

When it came down to it, Trapani didn't see the Crusaders' biggest weakness as something that could be fixed with a pep talk and a chalkboard session. The team's trouble area was in the mental part of the game and Trapani and her assistants made sure to address the issue before the playoffs began.

“Basically, we talked about four things,” Trapani said. “We wanted to focus on ourselves and what we need to do, our opponents, on the coaches and on trying to block everything else out. We started stressing that probably from the beginning of February. It was what our focus needed to be. We couldn't be concerned with who is in the crowd and overwhelmed by the moment. I was a little bit fearful that was going to happen again.”

It didn't. The Crusaders cruised through the Section 9 playoffs and ran into eventual state champion Ossining in the state Class AA quarterfinals at West Point.

A group of four Monroe-Woodbury seniors - Jaclyn Pendergast, Kerrie Walsh, Kristen Walsh and Katie Davis - ended their high school careers on the court at Christl Arena.

It was that group that Trapani wished to thank most of all.

“Those guys have played since they were little kids,” Trapani said. “I was so glad that they were able to finally win it. For them to be able to finish their careers with a Section 9 title, I feel that it's a great thing for them. I couldn't be happier for them.”